The Distance Between
by Gemmika
Summary: Set after the end of the manga. Fumino is worried about the sudden lack of communication between her and Kazuma. Could he have met someone else?
1. Distance

A/N: Dedicated to my lovely girl, Shannon. Without her I wouldn't have anyone to fangirl with.

Fumino stared at the email sitting in her inbox, a lump of ice settling in her heart. She had read it a dozen times now, each time searching for some kind of hidden meaning that refused to show itself. It wasn't more than two lines, just a small note to apologize for yet another night where she wouldn't be able to talk to her husband. She could barely believe it had been five days since she had last heard his voice, seen his face, heard about his day. Up until last month he hadn't missed a single chance to talk with her. What had changed?

She quickly shut down her laptop, frustrated by the tears that pricked her eyes. She didn't think she would be able to come up with a suitable explanation if Teppei saw her crying again. He would demand that she have faith in 'Ma-kun' and remind her that they would all be together as a family soon… he had promised. The problem was that without Sensei at her side, without their nightly talks to reaffirm their closeness, she felt like she was losing him.

This long distance thing was _hard._

Her fingertips brushed across the surface of her laptop, wishing for all the world that it was Sensei she was touching instead. This machine and her wedding ring were the only links she had to him while he was away, and even though she was just as sure of her feelings for him now as she had been on the day she had first confessed to him, it was more painful being apart than she had expected. At least during their previous separations she had been able to see him in class every day. He had been within reach. Now… she hadn't even heard his voice in days.

She missed him so much she could barely concentrate in her classes. Just this morning she had missed half the lecture because she had been refreshing her email inbox over and over, desperate for a confirmation of when her husband would be available to video chat with her. When the email had finally come in earlier this evening, she had almost cried in relief that he had finally remembered her. Of course, that relief had been short lived, hadn't it? The email had basically boiled down to him explaining his continued absence as end of semester grading and a hope that she was keeping up her own grades in University. No words of love or anything that might soothe her aching heart. It was like he had become her teacher again and was trying to keep a distance between them. As though he no longer wanted her the same way he once had.

Tears leaked from her eyes and trailed down her cheeks as she rested her head on her desk. When Sensei had told her two weeks ago that he was unable to come home to spend Christmas and New Years with her and Teppei, she had been disappointed, but had understood the situation. As a teacher, he didn't have a lot of free time between semesters and he needed to stay on top of the lessons for his students. Flying back and forth between his students and his family ate up a lot of time that he needed for preparations. It's why he had only been able to come home for a week during the summer holiday earlier that year. With the winter holiday being so much shorter… yeah, she got it.

It didn't mean that it wasn't a blow to her system. But even with all that, she was fine. Getting to talk to him every night was enough to keep her going, enough to see her through the difficulties of being separated. But this… this sudden distance. She had no idea how to handle _that_ at all. They may finally be legally married, but she was still only 18. She didn't know how to deal with the icy chill that had settled into her heart when he had started excusing himself from their nightly video chats.

Fear and anxiety lodged in her chest, making it hard to breathe. What if this was about something more than just being busy with his work? Could he be avoiding her for some reason? She thought hard about why this could be happening, and she didn't like where her thoughts took her. Things had seemed good until recently, when she had asked him about his plans for the upcoming winter break. Could it be possible that he didn't _want_ to come home and see her? It seemed ridiculous to jump to that conclusion, but hadn't all this started after he let her know he couldn't make it home? If he really was disappointed about not being able to make it as he had said, why the sudden silence between them? Honestly… the more she thought about the more certain she was that he was avoiding her.

As she bathed Teppei, got him into pajamas and then into bed, she thought over all the possible reasons why Sensei seemed to be pulling away. There was the obvious of course, that he was telling the truth and he was actually very busy with midterms. But she couldn't fully accept that answer. Until now he hadn't missed a single night, even during midterms and finals for the previous semester. What could be different now? She could only come up with two answers for that question, and both made it hard to breathe. Either he was balking at coming home for some reason to do with her (the lack of contact made her sure that _she_ was the issue) or… he had met someone else.

She lay next to her brother on the futon, arms cradling him against her chest as she fought back the panic that was threatening to overtake her. Thinking through the first possibility was hard, but more acceptable in the long run, so she focused on what she could have done to turn him away. Since their separation on their wedding night, Fumino had done everything in her power to be the best wife she could. She took care of Teppei, kept their home clean and happy, continued learning to cook, excelled in her studies, and wrote him an email every morning before class. She had taken everything he had taught her in the two years they lived together and put it into practice, forcing herself to be her best for him. At night, she listened to how things were going with him and his students, and she never hesitated to express her affection for him before they said their goodbyes. Was she too enthusiastic in her role as a wife? Did she smother him with her love and the desperate way she missed him?

Or was it the opposite? Had she not been enough for him when he had come home during the summer?

Heat flashed in her cheeks as she thought of the week she had spent as a new bride during his summer break. The truth of the matter was that before that week, she had only ever kissed Sensei a handful of times, and he had been the _only_ man she had ever kissed. Had her innocence been disappointing to him? Had he found what they shared to be wanting in some way? She honestly couldn't know for sure. To her, it had been a week of breathless intensity, of lazy mornings and steamy nights. Their time together still made her flush when she thought about it… but what had it meant to him? Maybe he didn't _want_ to come back and deal with her inexperience again.

And what if her other worry was the real issue? Could her husband have found someone else on that faraway island? Was it possible that another teacher, or even another _student_ , had stolen his heart away? If he had been as lonely as she was, she could understand how it might happen. Sensei was a very handsome man, and if he had been empty without her… could another woman have taken her place in his arms? Just the thought had her stomach clenching with unimaginable pain.

No… no, he _couldn't_ do that. Could he?

But somewhere deep within her, she worried that he maybe he could. Hadn't he fallen in love with _her_ , after all? She had been a student, it had been forbidden, and it hadn't stopped him from showering her with kisses, both at school and in the privacy of their home. If he had broken the rules for her, what was to say that he wouldn't break them for someone else? What was stopping him from casting aside his wedding vows, slipping off his ring, and whispering the words he had said to her... to someone else?

Christmas was in three days. Would he be holding someone else in his arms on that special day?

Jealousy, worry, agony, they all clawed at her stomach as she released Teppei and reached for her phone. She didn't call her husband often, and she knew it was late, but she needed to hear his voice in order to get rid of her fears. Fingers trembling, she chose his number and then brought the phone to her ear, listening as it rang and rang and rang.

No answer.

She supposed, in a way, that _was_ an answer, wasn't it?


	2. Surprise

The smell of toast and bacon woke Fumino up the next morning.

She roused herself from bed to find that she was completely alone in the bedroom. Teppei had already disappeared, and she could hear his high pitched giggles coming from the other room. Confusion and exhaustion warred in her in equal numbers. Her eyes were sore and swollen from the night before, when she had cried herself to sleep, but she ignored that ache as best she could. It wouldn't be right to show that kind of sadness in front of her brother; he needed her to be strong.

But now that she thought about it, if it was only her and Teppei in the apartment… who was cooking breakfast?

Fumino flew out of the bedroom in a panic, her heart racing in her chest as she thought of who could possibly be in their home. If Teppei was laughing, it had to be someone they knew. Either Ryuu, Shouma, or Tomoyuki. She was betting on Shouma, as Meg had told her that the two were coming back for Christmas, and Teppei adored him… but to be safe, she wanted to see for herself.

When she threw open the sliding doors, she found herself rooted to the doorway. "S-sensei?"

Her husband grinned at her from where he stood in front of the stove. Clad in an apron and armed with a skillet in one hand and a spatula in the other, she was reminded of their happy early days in this apartment. But what was he doing here? Hadn't he told her that he wasn't going to be able to make it home for the winter break? She couldn't understand what she was seeing in front of her.

"Aren't you going to welcome me home with a kiss, my darling wife?" His easy smile was so familiar, and yet it cut deep into her heart. Had it really only been last night that she had been convinced he no longer loved or wanted her, that he had maybe even found someone else? How could he be standing in their kitchen making breakfast after everything she went through the night before?

"I tried to call you last night," she said cautiously, not taking even a single step toward him. She was still confused, and she knew that kissing him would only invite more touching. It was something she needed to hold off on until she had some answers. Like how in the world he was standing in front of her when she had resigned herself to not seeing him until March.

He cocked his head to the side and put down both the skillet and spatula, wiping his hands on his apron before making his way toward her. Before he had taken more than a few steps he stopped, clearly reading the mixed feelings on her face and keeping his distance. "Fumino? Aren't you happy to see me?"

"Buncha, Ma-kun is home! You should give him a big hug and tell him you missed him!" Teppei called from where he sat at the kotatsu, a big grin on his face now that their family was all home together.

"You didn't pick up the phone," she continued, as if neither of the males had spoken. "You haven't talked to me on video chat for the last week either."

In the blink of an eye, he rushed forward and lifted her into his arms, clasping her tight to his chest. Her heart raced frantically, spurred on by the touch of the man she loved more than anything in the world besides Teppei. It did no good to try and force herself to stay calm. She had never been able to remain calm when he was close to her.

"Last night my flight left quite late, so I had my phone turned off while I was in the airport and on the plane," he explained, bringing his mouth to her neck and trailing his lips up to her jaw. Her skin caught fire every place that he touched. "And I really am sorry about the video calls. I hated turning you away every night. I've really missed our nightly conversations."

"Then why did you do it?" She cried, pushing him away before his lips could reach hers and rob her of all rational thought. "Do you have any idea what I've been going through the last week? Do you know what I was beginning to think?"

Shame burned through her, all of her thoughts of the previous night making her want to cry. She had honestly started to believe that he could really break every promise he had ever made to her, just because of a few nights of silence. The guilt was so thick in her throat that she couldn't even open her mouth to speak, and she turned her eyes away from his.

He dropped to the ground and cradled her in his lap, holding her face between his hands so he could force her to look into his eyes. "First of all, if you've been thinking anything other than 'Kazuma loves me,' we need to spend this vacation the same way we spent the last one."

Fumino blushed and looked over at Teppei who was cheerfully chewing on a piece of toast and smiling at them with blissful unawareness. She had to head off this conversation before he started going into details that Teppei really didn't need to hear. "We can talk about that later," she said quickly, bringing one hand up to cover his mouth. "Right now I just want to know why you've been avoiding me. You have no idea how much it hurt… how much I _missed_ you."

Tears trickled down her cheeks and she struggled to brush them away, but his fingers were faster, and he caught her tears before they managed to fall. "I honestly didn't think I was going to be able to make it home during the winter break," he admitted, a look of distress crossing his handsome face. "I had a lot of work to get done and not very much time to plan for next semester, so when I told you that I couldn't make it, I wasn't lying. When a colleague at the school heard that I wasn't going to be able to get back home for Christmas and see the wife I'm constantly talking about, she and a few other teachers pitched in to help me finish my workload so I could come home to you. I decided to stop the calls for awhile so that I could stay at the school until late… but also…"

A flush crossed his cheeks as he trailed off. It was such a rare sight that Fumino couldn't help but pry. Especially because it seemed like he was about to say something she really needed to hear. "But also? What was the other reason, Sensei?"

He captured her fingers in his hand and brought them to his lips, pressing a kiss to each finger in turn. Soon she was just as red as he was. "I was trying to keep myself from ruining the surprise. I knew that if I saw your face I wouldn't be able to stop myself from telling you that I was coming home to you for Christmas, and I didn't know until the last minute that I really was. You were so disappointed when I said I couldn't come, and I needed to see you smile."

More tears spilled down her cheeks, but she didn't try to stop these. She beamed at him, touched that he wanted to give her such a gift for Christmas. It was honestly the best one he had ever given her. "So… you weren't ignoring me because you found someone else? You weren't dissatisfied with what I offer as a wife?"

His eyes turned fierce as he looked at her. It was a look she had seen in his eyes many times during their early days together. Whenever he wanted to prove to her how much he wanted her, or wanted to put a claim on her after another man had made him jealous. This look in his eyes was what she saw before she woke up the next morning with kiss marks covering her neck and chest. It was a passion she hadn't seen since before they had legally gotten married.

She couldn't help but shiver with anticipation.

"Teppei, would you mind going to let Ryuu know I'm back for a few days? I need to talk to Fumino about something important."

Her little brother grinned at them. "Okay, Ma-kun. I'll tell him you need to talk to Buncha."

The moment the door closed behind Teppei, he pulled her mouth to his. The kiss wasn't a gentle welcome home kiss, but a fierce and passionate consumption. All she could manage to do was dig her nails into his shoulders and hold onto him while he ravaged her. His hands pulled at her nightshirt, his tongue slipped into her mouth, and he laid her out beside the kotatsu, his body following hers onto the floor.

"Fumino, you are my wife," he whispered heatedly, his mouth moving down her neck, "the only wife I will ever _have_ and the only one I will ever _want_. Don't you dare think for even a moment that I will ever touch anyone else the way I touch you."

She choked on a sob and dug her fingers tighter into his broad shoulders. "I thought I could be more mature about you being so far away… but I can't. Sensei, I miss you all the time. It's so hard living here without you. I want to be your wife all the time, not just three times a year when you can come home to us. I want what we used to have, but _more_. I want to be a real family again."

He stopped with his lips hovering over her heart and stared into her eyes. After a long moment he shuddered and closed his eyes, his forehead dropping to her chest. "It's killing me not being here with you and Teppei. I miss you every day. Every. Single. Day. I can't stop myself from wondering if I made a mistake, marrying you before I left. It wasn't fair to bind an 18 year old girl to me and then leave her behind. I'm jealous of the boys in your classes, the ones you might see at work, or even just grocery shopping without me. Honestly, I'm constantly out of my mind worrying that someone else is going to steal you away while I'm busy trying to convince my father I'm not a threat to the Ojiro name."

The confession hung in the air between them, heavy with the pain their separation was causing them both. With a trembling hand, Fumino touched his cheek, letting her fingers brush over his lips. "I love you, Kazuma. It's only ever been you. I don't even see anyone else… I can't. So please, just forget I said anything. I can be strong enough to wait for you to come home. But please, don't ignore me like that ever again. Five days without seeing your face or hearing your voice was too much for me to take. I _need_ you."

Kazuma turned his head and pressed his lips into her palm, kissing the sensitive skin there. "I love you," he whispered into her hand. "I promise that I'll work hard and come home to you as soon as I can. I won't let another day go by without reminding you that you are my greatest treasure."

She smiled through her tears and finally pulled him in for the gentle kiss she should have given him the moment she saw him in their kitchen. "Welcome home, husband."

Grinning, fingers moved back down to her nightshirt and he began popping the buttons one by one. "Ryuu will probably keep Teppei busy for awhile. Why don't you give me a more enthusiastic greeting, my lovely wife?"

Their lips met again and she let out a soft sigh of happiness. He would be gone soon enough, but he was here with her to celebrate the holiday and the memories they made during this time would never fade.

It was enough. For now.


End file.
